A Small Dance
by Writer Noire
Summary: It's a rehersal night with Jamie and Lapis practicing a small dance number for the upcoming play. However the scene takes an interesting turn. (2 parter)
1. Chapter 1

"Um, Lapis is this really necessary?" Jami asked as he watched the blue gem move her arms in a rhythm. The director/everything else in the drama department of Beach City was currently having trouble scoring a small dance for the next play he was producing.

Steven as assistant decided to help score a dance is with people that take dancing as if their lives depended on it. Normally it does since said people required it to fuse into giant women with abilities that would floor the world. And who better to help Jamie other than lead actress Lapis Lazuli.

"Yes. If you require assistance as Steven asked then it is necessary." Lapis said as she warmed herself up. "Besides it would be interesting see how humans learn to dance. I know that some don't have a natural flow like others."

Jamie laughed nervously as dancing was one of the few things he forgets to work on. Rehearsal, directing, writing, building, and other things distract him from the subject so he never had time. Lapis finally finished stretching and held out her hand.

"Okay lets begin." Jamie nodded and put on the song "Alone Together". The music started and Jamie took her hand. As the music began building up, Lapis and Jamie smiled and began shifting their movements to be in sync with each other.

Jamie was finally getting into the groove and thought of the play this dance would be put it. It was a story about how a dancer tried to move on with her life after being trapped within a prison and later stuck with a complete psychopath for an unprecedented amount of time. Later said dancer would make her move and try to forget her pain and move on.

Sure most of it was inspired by the true story around Lapis, but she was happy to be a part of it. And speaking of which the the song began reaching its low point and Jamie decided to an unplanned finish. He and Lapis spun out seperated, but still holding hands and Jamie spun her once.

This took Lapis out of the loop and found herself being dipped by the lead actor. Jamie smiled at the surprised look on her face and mentally applauded himself for it.

"Okay. So how about we do this again and we do the scene at the same time." Jamie said. Lapis nodded and the two separated. Jamie grabbed his phone and restarted the song. Clenching his fist dramatically he entered his drama zone. Lapis giggled at his silly expression, but smoothed out her dress.

Feeling in character Jamie stepped forward with an unconfident smile and shyly approached Lapis. Lapis put on a confident smile and touched him on the shoulder.

"Hey, um, thanks for helping me out with this." Jamie stuttered and Lapis resisted the urge to take in his shy exterior.

"It's okay, I love helping you out. Now we're just going to start out simple." She grabbed his hands and placed one on her hip and the other in her right hand. Small steps were taken as the music once began. Jamie admired lots of things from Lapis Lazuli.

First was that she friendly and seemed to care for those close enough to her to help them. Also she was gentle with those around her, even though Steven told him about the time that she managed to hold off the Crystal Gems with water clones that were produced from her cracked gem. And she was beauty to behold as her looks and movements were as fluent as the water she controls. But for now he snapped out of his admiration and into the dance currently happening before him.

One, two, three, turn. One, two, three, spin, and turn. Their pattern repeated twice before Jamie decided to go for the dip. Replaying the same actions he took before, Jamie spun her out, pulled her in, and dipped her slightly down.

Now it was just improvisation since the rest of the scene was left unfinished. Lapis decided to start. "Wow, you seem…" Jamie's curious look made Lapis's cheeks flush, before finishing her line. "Confident." She raised herself up and the two began a small waltz around the stage.

It was just them, the stars, and the constant tune of "Alone Together" replaying in the background. Peaceful movements and the believable chemistry between the two was intoxicating as the world around them faded, leaving only the smell of the salty beach and each other.

"Really, thanks." Jamie said in character as he felt his cheeks gain heat. The movements began slowing down with the two starting to rock only back and forth. Lapis smiled and placed her chin on his shoulder and Jamie felt his heart beating faster.

"We could do this again." Jamie proposed.

"Are you sure?" Lapis asked, now questioning if he means real life or the play.

"I could get to know you better."

"You already do." Lapis answered with her arms wrapping around his neck.

"I'm mean more about you." Jamie slid his arms around her waist and the two came to a stop.

The two faced each other and each could see their faces were painted with dark red/dark blue. "Well for starters I appreciate that you're my friend." Jamie smiled at that line, but was wondering if she meant it or if it was for the scene.

"Same." He swallowed his nervousness and saw Lapis giving him a small smile. And it sent shivers down his body as Jamie felt himself moving closer. The gem in his hands felt her gemstone slightly illuminate as she tilted her head.

Wasting no time the gap between the two disappeared and cut the world off. Both felt everything melt away as the continued to express their passion for one another. It didn't stop till small clapping was heard. The two were sudden hit with reality when they found Steven and Garnet watching them.

"Whoo, go Lapis and Jamie! that scene was awesome. Right, Garnet?"

"You could feel the love between the characters. You two must have some real chemistry if something like that is good." Garnet agreed as she adjusted her glasses.

Lapis actually gave a yelp of embarrassment as Jamie let go of Lapis and cleared his throat. "Um, thank you Garnet. Those are very kind words you've given us. We appreciate it." Lapis nodded as Steven ran up to give her a high five for the good job. Jamie laughed nervously and went to pick up his phone.

'Alright, alright calm down, Jamie. The scene went better than expected, we even nailed the subtle romance undertone, albeit there wasn't suppose to be a kiss, but…" He looked over and saw Garnet picking up and Steven and leaving. Lapis was waving bye to them as she turned to face Jamie again.

He quickly turned his head and began picking up his supplies. "Well Miss Lazuli that was an excellent rehearsal. I think with a little more practice we'll be golden for next week." He said before catching her nervous glance toward him.

"Um, is something the matter?" Jamie asked.

Lapis walked towards him and nervously looked down toward the ground. "Were those final moments part of the scene?" Jamie froze when she mentioned that, but snapped out of it when he saw the nerve wrecking glance she was giving.

"Of cour-Well mayb-I don't really...aw, geez." Jamie stuttered as Lapis gingerly pressed her fingers against her lips. "It's okay, you don't have to answer Jamie. We'll just um, great how did Steven say it, um roll with it?" Lapis answered. The a cting mailman nodded and walked down from the stage before beginning his walk home.

"Wait!" Lapis jumped towards him and expanded her water wings. "I've heard it's dangerous to travel alone at night."

"Oh, I'm fine. My place is not that far and it's not really that dangerous in Beach City." Lapis gave a small 'oh along with an embarrassed shade of blue and her wings curled in. Jamie noticed this and saw a good solution.

"We could walk together if you'd like." Jamie offered and Lapis smiled at the offer and nodded. The gem and the human then proceeded to travel towards the actor's with both of them thinking about their little stint during their dance.

To Jamie it was something that he can't ignore and would probably face later. And he looked forward to it.


	2. Chapter 2

The small studio apartment door opened to the acting mailman and the nigh immortal gem. "Welcome to my humble home Madame Lazuli." Lapis laughed at the posture Jamie gave her and walked in. It was small, but not too small which was perfect for someone living alone.

Around his home were stacks of papers, a running laptop, a slightly messy kitchen, and his stuff was a bit unorganized. To Lapis it was similar to Steven's house, but he had the gems help clean it up. Jamie saw her staring around and chuckled nervously.

"Oh right. Whenever I have to do a local play I normally forget to tidy up." Lapis gave him a small look before picking up some of the trash on his floor.

"Hey wait you don't have to-"

"Pearl told me awhile ago that studies show that humans work better in cleaner conditions. If you want to do better than I can help you clean your home." She said before continuing her task. Jamie opened his mouth to protest, but sighed and dropped his bag and hat on the chair. Rotating his shoulders, the mailman began picking up the trash on the floor.

The next few hours were filled with constant cleaning, an occasional curiosity of what something was, and the peaceful silence between the two. Though they didn't talk the two were savoring every moment with each other. Finally the apartment began looking much cleaner and Lapis was moving one final stack of papers stapled together.

"Hmm." She found a title on it. "The Goddess and the Mortal?" Jamie panicked and quickly moved towards her.

"Oh, that's just something I've been working on since I returned from Kansas." Jamie said as Lapis began skimming through the pages.

It had a small prologue with a mortal falling for his friend's caretaker, but after being rejected and talking it with her, the protagonist began looking at things with more care. The main story had him and a minor goddess meeting for the first time and felt massive infatuation. Both wanted to engage in a relationship, but the hero wanted to wait and throughout the story it had the two lovers spend time with each other and overcoming the tropes of what's expected between a mortal and an immortal.

Lapis smiled at the concept and faced Jamie. "This is very good Jamie. Where did you get the idea to write such a thing?"

"Oh that? Well, um, Steven told you about that time I had a crush on Garnet." Lapis formed an 'oh' with her mouth and had an idea on how that went. "And after hearing Steven tell me about his parent's love story I decided to write this script. I hope to send it to a major movie studio and maybe with luck turn it into a movie."

"Well that's nice." Lapis winked at him with a smile. Red flushed his face again, but he kept himself under control. "Thank you Lapis. But now that we're done I think-" A deep rumble from the human interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh right, I haven't eaten since we started to work on the stage. I better cook some ramen." He moved to his pantry and grabbed a cup of ramen before looking at Lapis. "Would like some Lapis?"

"Well normally I don't eat, but…" She paused as she shapeshifted her insides to represent a human digestion system. "I think I'll indulge in this human food called ramen."

A smile grew on Jamie's face as he filled a teapot with water and put it on his stove. Lapis sat down and waited for him. Jamie came out of his kitchen and sat across Lapis.

"So we'll have to wait for the water boil, so while we wait I'd like to thank you on the contribution you've given me and Steven on this play." He thanked.

"It's fine. Afterall it's based around my...experiences before coming to terms living on Earth. It would be nice to help you guys work on it. I think it'll do nice next week."

Thew two then just started talking as Lapis began giving Jamie her backstory and how she came to terms on Earth. Jamie in return shared his backstory and what he was doing in Kansas around the time Lapis was finally freed from her mirror prison.

While not as interesting as being one of the most powerful figures in the gemworld civil war, Jamie did share his experience with life and what he's been planning for later years. "I plan on writing a story and hopefully producing a production that'll launch me to either the big screen or the big stages in cities around."

"It's nice to see your passion for it. Now that I hear it for a second time I'm pretty convinced about your efforts.." Lapis said, but felt a little sad by his plans on leaving Beach City. Besides Steven, he was one of the few beings that didn't initially fear her. Probably from his lack of experience being near a water bending gem or he was like Steven, in that he was kind to all.

"Oh thanks Lapis! Maybe once I get things rolling I could have you be part of my works." Jamie said with a happy sigh. Lapis gave some thought into that idea and blushed at doing similar things as they did tonight. Sure they brushed it off as part of the scene, but Lapis felt warm when they did their kiss.

But the sudden whistle of the teapot broke her out of thought and made Jamie get up. She watched him grab the handle of the pot and pour the hot water into each cup. That was until his grip slipped and the hot piece of metal fell on his right hand.

A small hiss of pain escaped Jamie's mouth and Lapis quickly ran to him with worry written all over her face. Jamie's right hand was turning red with some blisters appearing on the palm of his hand. "Ah, that really hurts! I need to cool my hand" Jamie groaned as he reached out to start the faucet.

However two smaller hands grabbed his and a small bubble of cold water covered his hand. The burn slowly faded away as the gem tried not to make her bubble icy cold. Jamie didn't complain, but turned and grabbed the First-Aid kit near the sink.

"Here, let me apply the medicine." Lapis said as she grabbed the box and pulled out several bandages and burn medicine. "Wait you don't have t-" Jamie started before Lapis added a small amount of the medicine into the bubble.

The blue bubble soon became clear and Jamie could feel the cool sting of the medicine working. Finally letting go of his hand, Lapis grabbed the roll of bandages and moved the medicine bubble off Jaime's hand. She then began wrapping it tightly around his hand before tearing the roll and the bandage apart.

"There. That should hold out till it's better. Also don't move you hand." Lapis sighed.

"Wait, where'd you learn to do that?"

"Oh, on some missions I'm in charge of helping Steven's friend Connie recover from any injuries she's suffered. That required me to learn basic human medical procedures." Lapis informed him. Jamie nodded before moving one of his fingers. Lapis wasn't kidding as even with the medicine it still stung to move.

"Well thank you. I should've been more careful with that hot water." Remembering what he made the hot water for, Jamie quickly reached over and grabbed one of the cups of ramen. He reached for a fork and stirred the broth and noodles for a second before passing it to Lapis.

"Here you go. I did make one of these for you." Lapis reached out and grabbed the warm cup and took the fork. She poked around with it before taking a small scoop and eating the substance.

Her senses tasted the salt and the powdered flavoring in it, but also the hot noodles rolled down her throat and she shivered at how good it tasted. "It's warm. Thank you Jamie."

"You're welcome. I normally don't share dinner with anyone well maybe except Steven and Amethyst. I remember finding half of my pantry empty along with some of plates. It was a mess." Jamie chuckled at the memory as he took his food and stirred it around.

Lapis snorted a small laughter as her mouth was still full. She swallowed and tried to remember something similar. "I think the same thing happened when those two tried to introduce Peridot into eating. We had to spend most of the afternoon watching Peridot vomit and restocking Steven's food."

They both laughed at the image of that happening. Lapis finished up her meal and waited Jamie to finish as well. After throwing away their cups and cleaning their forks, Jamie yawned at the late time it was. The moon was already out and Lapis could sense Jamie's fatigue.

"Well I better get going. The gems are probably getting Steven ready for bed and it's my job tonight to tuck him in." Jamie nodded and Lapis noticed his bandaged hand. "Are you gonna be alright with one hand?"

Jamie glanced at his hand and nodded. "I'll be fine with one hand. Here let me walk you out." Lapis agreed and the two went outside. Concentrating on her gem her water wings sprang to life and she gave them an experimental flap.

She turned and saw Jamie waving bye at her. Lapis decided to do better and kissed Jamie on the cheek. "Have a good night Jamie. I hope you'll be feeling better tomorrow." Jamie barely opened his mouth to respond before Lapis took off into the air.

Even with her rising into the air nothing rose higher than her heart after giving a kiss goodbye to Jamie. It was like torture, but she could tolerate it. Finally turning to the temple Lapis dived down and couldn't wait for the coming days.


End file.
